Washing machine



2 1646,174 Oct. 18, 1927. o. E. SZEKELY WASHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 10. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet Oct. 18,1927.

0. E. SZEKELY WASHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 10. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented a, 1a, 1927.

UNITED STATES OTTO E. SZEKELY, 0] MOLINE, ILLINOIS.

WASHING MACHINE.

Application nledpeptember 10, 1926. Serial Ro.134,593.

Heretofore washing machines have been rovided with integral or otherwise rigid 1m llers which move bodily in the tub as a solid element to wash the clothes, but because these impellers 0 erate as one dead element the do not er orm the washing operation with desira le speed and efficiency. Such an impeller moves up as one solid piece,

a dead mass, in the tub, and while this type- L0 of im eller has been measurably successful I have ound that it does not agitate the water and the clothes in the tub and does not create sufiicient currents of water to cleanse the clothes speedily and efliciently.

l6 s The object of my invention is to provide a washing machine which performs the cleansin operation speedily and efiiciently, and to t is end it is also the object of m invention to provide. a novel impeller whic 50 will whip the clothes in the water and create many conflicting currents in the water and drive the water through the clothes A further object of the invention 1s to pro vide a live impleller having a plurality of i6 movable parts w ich will slap and whip the clothes back and forth in the tub and make the water pass back and forth throu h the clothes to thoroughly and speedily c eanse the clothes.

The invention has other objects in view incidental to the primary objects aboye recited and which w1ll appear hereafter 1n the detail description of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings 5 illustrating selected embodiments of the invention, and referrin to which:

Fig. 1 is a sectiona elevation showing my vention embodied in one form in a washin machine tub.

to Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the unpeller shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan vlew of Fig. 1 wlth the cover parts removed.

Fi 4 is a detail sectional view and Fig. 5

15 is a etail plan view showing another means for 0 rating the impeller vanes.

Re erring to the drawings 6 represents a pressed steel tub having a cover 7 removably supported on a cover rim 8. The tub has a no central opening 9 in its bottom and a tubular support 10 pro'ects throu h said opening into the tub an is provide with a base 11 which is fastened to the bottom of the tub by any suitable means. Vanes 12 are inde- 55 pendently ivoted to the support, at the top and at the ottom thereof, and are arranged at s aced intervals about the support and.

oscil ate thereon. The bottom pivot for each vane comprlses a stud 13 threaded in a boss 14 on the base 11 and projecting up into an opening 15 in the bottom of the vane close to the inner edge thereof. The top ivot comprises a stud 16 ressed and pinne into the upper end of t e vane and projecting through an opening 17 in a head 18 on the upper end of the support 10. I provide the opemn 15 and the o ning 17 with bearin 15' an 17 made 0 bakelite or other sultable material. A sector gear 19 is ri 'dly mounted on the upper end of each og the studs 16 and meshes with a pinion 20 rigid on the drive shaft 21 which is mounted inbearings 22 in the tubular support 10. A cap 23 1s bolted to the head 18 over the gears 19 and inion 20.

The rive shaft 21 is oscillated to move the vanes back and forth in suitable arcs, by driymg means suitable for the purpose and which may be varied more or less for different installations and to meet difierent conditlons. In the drawings I have shown a simple drive comprising a crank 23 pinned on the lower end of the shaft 21, a crank fpm 24 on the crank engaged with one end 0 the rod 25 which is engaged at its other end by means of a crank pin 26 with a crank 27 which is operated by a motor 28 throu h any suitable reduction means which may e desirable. There are many other mechanical drives, including the rack and pinion, which may be employed with my invention, but they are well known to those skilled in the art and since I do not claim them specifically I do not consider it necessa to show or describe more than one whic I have selected because of its simplicity.

In Fig. 5 I have shown other means for imparting movement from the drive shaft to the vanes. This means is of a lever t comprising lever arms 29 rigidly mounted ii the upper ends of the studs 16 and projecting into recesses 30 in the pinion 31 mounted on the drive shaft 21. It will readily be seen that oscillation of the drive shaft will produce an oscillating movement of the pinion 31 which will in turn actuate the lever arms 29 and move the vanes 12 back and forth just as they are moved back and forth through the gears in the construction of Figs. 1-3, as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 3.

My invention provides in a simple manner for causing the vanes to move in arcs described from the tubular center support within the tub, and all the vanes are moved conjointlv through suitable drive means. I have indicated two different means for oscillating the vanes but I do not limit the invention thereto because I believe that other oscillatin means may be substituted which will pro uce the desired oscillating movement of the vanes and thereby provide a "live im eller for the machine.

When t e machine is in operation the impeller vanes oscillate back and forth in their predetermined arcs, and impart a more or less violent agitation to the clothes and the water in the tub, and create strong currents of water in the tub. But the action of the live impeller is especially important in driving the water through the clothes WhlCh is so highly desirable for the washing operation, and this type of live impeller 18 so far superior to the dead impellers heretofore commonly used that the washing operation is rformed more speedily and wi th better c eansing efliciency. The superiority of my invention is due, as I now understand it, to the use of a live impeller instead of a dead impeller, and by this I mean an imeller having movable vanes as distinguished rom an impeller having rigid vanes.

The crank 25 and the connections with the shaft 21 are such that the vanes are given a variable speed as they rotate, the vanes being positively actuated simultaneously and conjointly in varying arcs upon and about the shaft 21. I

'My invention consists broadly in the concept of a live impeller centrally disposed within a washing machine tub and equipped with a plurality of radially projecting ver tical vanes which are caused to swing in arcs described from the center support of the impeller. Changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts and in the drive means, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of my invention, and I reserve the right to make all such changes as fairly fall within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A washing machine comprising a tub, and an impeller arranged within the tub and comprising a vertical support with radially disposed parts at the top and at the bottom thereof spaced apart around the support, a

plurality of vanes pivotally mounted in said radially disposed parts and projecting outwardly from the support, and means for positively swinging said vanes separately in alternately varying arcs described from t eir pivots.

2. A washing machine comprising a tub, and an impeller arranged within the tub and comprising a vertical support, a plurality of swinging sai vanes disposed radially within the tub about said support, pivot devices at the top and at the bottom of said vanes engaging said support to permit the vanes to swing in separate arcs, and means for positively swinging the vanes and giving them a simultaneous and conjoint variable movement to and from said support as the vanes are oscillated.

3. A washing machine comprising a tub, and an impeller arranged within the tub and comprising a tubular su port, a plurality of vanes pivotally mounte radially about said support, a drive shaft in the tubular support, means 0 erated by said drive shaft for vanes in separate arcs, and means for oscillating said shaft.

4. A washing machine comprising a tub having an opening in the bottom thereof, and an impeller arranged within the tub and comprising a vertical tubular support and a base secured to the margin of the tub around said opening, a plurality of vanes pivoted to the support at the top and ,bottom and radially disposed about the sup port, a drive shaft in said support, means for oscillating said drive shaft, sector gears on the upper pivots of the vanes, and a pinion on the drive shaft meshing with said sector gear for swinging the vanes in separat aICS. 1

5. A washing machine comprising a tub, a vertical support therein, independently mounted vanes, an actuating member on said support, and means operatively connected with said actuating member to positively actuate said vanes simultaneous] and conjointly in varying arcs about said support.

6. washing machine comprising a tub, a movable member mounted therein, impeller vanes independentl mounted, and interengaging connections etween said movable member and the mountin s of the vanes, constructed to positively give to said vanes a variable movement to and from the said support as the vanes are oscillated.

7. A washing machine comprising a tub, a movable member mounted therein, impeller vanes independently mounted, interengagmg connections between said movable memher and the mountin of the vanes, constructed to give to sai vanes a positive variable movement to and from the said support as the vanes are oscillated, and means for alternately varying the speed of rotation of the vanes.

8. A washing machine comprising a tub, a vertical support therein, mdependently mountedvanes, an actuating member on said sup ort, and oscillatory gear means operative y connecting said support and vanes for positively actuating sai vanes simultaneously and conjoint-1y and giving them alternate movement in varying arcs.

9. A washing machine comprising a tub, a vertical support therein, independently mounted vanes, an actuating member on said support, said tub being multi-sided, and oscillatorily mounted means between said support and vanes for positively fiving the vanes alternately 0p osite osci lation in varyin arcs about sai support.

10. washing machine comprising a tub and an impeller centrally supported within the tub and com rising a lurality of independently osci atory ra ially extending vanes, the lower edges of the vanes being spaced a art and arranged in clearing relation to t e bottom of the tub, said vanes being mounted for positive swinging movement independently of each other.

OTTO E. SZEKELY. 

